Right In Front Of You
by tpcb000
Summary: In your senior year of high school you learn a lot things. However, for Amy Rose she still doesn't know how to solve one of her biggest dilemmas. Getting Sonic to notice her. Sonic is hooked on Sally even though Sally has her own boyfriend. Amy just wants to be noticed by Sonic and is trying her best, however, will she ever realize that someone else is trying to grab her attention?


_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Sonic the Hedgehog characters. _

_(A/N): All right, I'm squeezing one last one-shot before I go back to school. To be completely honest guys, I don't think I'll be able to post another chapter story till summer. It's really a combination of taking more classes, harder classes, looking for a job, and studying (lots and lots of studying) that won't allow me to have a lot of left over time to write a fully committed story. I'm not saying you won't see me till summer. I'll drop off a one-shot here and there, but there just won't be any chapter stories for while. I hope you all can understand and don't forget about me! PLEASE DON'T FORGET ABOUT ME! Any-who, enjoy the story!_

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My mom would always tell me to not become consumed with one goal/thing because you will always miss the right answer when it's right in front of you. This is the story of how I found out how true that statement was.

I was a senior in high school and not the most popular girl around. I wasn't a nerd or anything. I was just…there. I didn't care though. I had my friends and they were the best. Starting with my best friend Cream. I've known Cream since kindergarten. We know each other in and out. I don't know what I'd do without her. Her boyfriend, Tails, is also a good friend of mine. I was actually the one who got them together. Tails is a real nice guy. Super genuine and a genius. No doubt that he'll be valedictorian at graduation. My other friend is Rouge. She is a diva…to put it lightly. Rouge doesn't take shit from anyone. She's hilarious and without her I'd probably be a little wimp about everything.

Then there's Sonic. Sonic is Tails' best and the love of my life. He just doesn't know that last part. Sonic is amazing. He's hilarious and confident. He always manages to make me smile and he has the greatest sense of adventure. I would give anything to be his girlfriend. I would tell Sonic I love him, but he's hung up on Sally Acorn. I hate her. She's your typical trashy bitch. The worst part is that Sally is all over her boyfriend Shadow. It's not like Sonic has a chance. That doesn't matter to him. He believes that he and Sally belong together and he won't stop until she's his.

That leaves me. Left in the dust but still hoping Sonic will finally open his eyes and realize that we should be together. But, until then, I'm sitting in the friend zone and forced to listen to him talk about Sally all the time. Even though I keep telling him that Sally's attention is completely on Shadow. Shadow is a good guy. I don't hate him. He's in my English class and my only friend in the class. I don't know what he sees in Sally, but then again I hate her. I just wish Sonic could see that.

I walked into English to see Shadow already there. I sat at the desk next to his and he smiled at him. I don't understand Shadow. Outside of class, he's cold and silent. Even towards Sally. However, here he's friendly and actually talks. I don't get him. He's weird. But again, good guy.

"Hey Amy." Shadow said as I smiled over to him.

"Hey Shadow, are you excited for the Talent Show?" I asked. Shadow and his band are known around campus as being the best at the school. Shadow plays guitar for the band while Mina Mongoose sings. Charmy the Bee plays drums and Espio the Chameleon plays bass. They're really good and a shoe-in to win the Talent Show which is this Friday.

"Eh, I guess. I've been in and out of rehearsals all week. Mina is really stressing out." Shadow said.

"You could always ask Ash to calm her down." I said. Ash the Mongoose was Mina's boyfriend and a DJ. He graduated before us and is now working on getting his degree in Music Production.

"Yeah right, we won't see her for another hour then." Shadow said rolling his eyes. I made a disgusted face as Shadow just snickered. "She's distracted with Prom too." Shadow said. Ah, in three weeks Prom was coming up. Sonic was trying to go with Sally. Sigh.

"You're not excited for Prom?" I asked noticing his annoyed features.

"Eh, it's not my cup of tea, but Sally is kind of making me go." Shadow said as he shrugged his shoulders. "Are you going?" He asked.

"Nah, don't have a date." I said.

"You're not going with Sonic?" Shadow asked raising his eyebrow. I wish I was.

"No, he has his eyes set on another girl." I murmured. No one knew about my crush on Sonic. Not even Cream. It's so embarrassing. Everybody in our little group knows Sonic is hung up on Sally, me admitting that I like him would just be embarrassing.

"If I had a choice I wouldn't want to go." Shadow muttered.

"Then don't." I said as Shadow sighed.

"If Sally didn't threaten to chop my balls off I would." Shadow said as I grimaced.

"All right guys! I have an exciting announcement!" Mrs. Cherry said as she walked into the class. "We're going to start working on a group project!" She exclaimed as everybody groaned. "Oh hush! This one is actually fun. You and a partner will have to make a documentary of sorts about your life at school." Mrs. Cherry explained as Shadow and I looked at each other sealing the deal on our partnership.

"So we have to make two videos? One for each of us?" Bunnie asked.

"No, just one video. You'll have to combine both of your perspectives. This video is supposed to show how your high school experience has been and what you're looking forward to in the future. Everything is explained on this handout." Mrs. Cherry said passing out the papers. "This is due in two weeks and you better get started. Editing takes a lot of time." Mrs. Cherry as I read over the assignment. We had to do it in the style of a reality show. Basically meaning there had to be some parts with us just sitting and talking to the camera directly. We were not to disturb our other classes and not to film anything inappropriate.

"I'll handle the editing." Shadow said as I looked over to him. "I know a little bit about editing. So it won't be too hard for me." Shadow said as I nodded.

"All right, when do you want to have all the filming done by?" I asked as Shadow scratched the side of his neck. He does that when he thinks.

"How about next Tuesday?" Shadow asked.

"Sounds good." I said before Mrs. Cherry continued on with her lesson of the day. Shadow and I both had an iPhone 5 which had a decent camera. So we decided to use that to film our lives. For our commentary or whatever you want to call it we'll use an actual digital camera. Shadow said he could borrow one from Ash since he had a ton. We were going to do the commentary at each other's houses so it would give it a personal feel. I hate to admit it, but this project actually has me excited. The rest of the day dragged on before lunch where I met up with my little group per usual.

"Did you hear?" Cream asked as I looked over to her confused. "Rouge has a date to Prom." Cream said as I gasped and looked over to Rouge.

"What?! Who?!" I exclaimed.

"No one! Cream is being stupid." Rouge said with a roll of her eyes.

"Knuckles the Echidna." Cream said as I gasped again.

"The football player?!" I exclaimed. Knuckles was known around school as the best defense player. He even scored a scholarship to a great football college.

"I'm not going with him! He just asked me. I didn't say yes!" Rouge said as she picked at her food.

"She didn't say no either." Cream muttered as Rouge stabbed her fork into her salad and glared at Cream. Cream and I snickered when Tails and Sonic walked up and sat down with us.

"Are you going to say yes?" I asked as Rouge sighed.

"Why should I? He's stupid and thinks he's all that." Rouge said.

"If you feel that way, why didn't you say no in the first place?" I asked as Cream and I smirked. Rouge glared at us before huffing. She definitely likes him and Rouge, being Rouge, is too stubborn to admit it.

"Just drop it!" Rouge yelled as Cream and I laughed. Tails and Sonic decided to stay out of it. They know better than to mess with Rouge.

"God, look at him. He ignores Sally and she's still with him!" Sonic said as we all looked over at Sally and Shadow. Shadow was talking to his friends Silver and Blaze while Sally leaned on his shoulder. I sighed heavily and rolled my eyes as Sonic continued on bashing Shadow.

"By the way, for English, Shadow and I have to film a day of our lives or whatever." I said.

"That sounds cool!" Tails said as Cream and Rouge nodded in agreement.

"You're working with that douche?" Sonic asked looking over at me.

"He's not a bad guy, Sonic." I said as Sonic huffed.

"Yeah right. He thinks he's so cool. 'Oh, I'm Shadow. I play guitar and I'm too cool to pay any attention to my girlfriend.'" Sonic mocked as I laughed.

"Yeah, I'm sure he says that with every opportunity he gets." I said as Sonic rolled his eyes.

"You know what I mean." Sonic said before pouting. "I'm letting you all know now. Sally Acorn is going to Prom with me." Sonic said as everybody at the table rolled their eyes.

"C'mon dude, give it a break. Don't be _that _guy." Tails said.

"No Tails! She deserves a real guy." Sonic said as I looked down at my plate. I just couldn't take this anymore. I hated when he talked about Sally.

"I'm going to finish up some math homework. I'll see you guys later." I said as I grabbed my tray. Cream and Rouge said their byes while Sonic continued to argue with Tails. He didn't even notice me leaving. I dumped my tray and walked out of the cafeteria towards the library.

"Hey Amy!" Shadow exclaimed. I turned around and looked to see him jogging over to me. "I was wondering if I could come over tomorrow so we can start your commentary thing." Shadow asked as I smiled up at him.

"Sure, I'll have Rouge pick me up so we can just take your car back to my house." I said as Shadow smiled.

"Sounds great. I'll see you tomorrow." Shadow said as I said bye to him. I spent the rest of my lunch finishing my math homework for the day. At least that's one thing I don't have to do tonight. The lunch bell rang and I walked towards the gym. I hated PE with a passion. No, I don't hate exercising. I actually run two miles every morning. No, I hated PE because I had it with Sally. I had to hear her stupid voice through the locker-room and watch her be a snobby bitch to everybody. I walked to my locker and changed before walking into the gym. We were playing basketball and I walked over to Blaze. Blaze and I weren't best friends, but she's nice and friends with Shadow.

"Hey Amy," Blaze greeted.

"Hey Blaze, Silver ask you to Prom yet?" I asked. Silver and Blaze were dating and Blaze had no clue how Silver was going to ask her. It was annoying the ever living crap out of her. Blaze sighed heavily and crossed her arms.

"No, I don't know what he's waiting for." Blaze said as I shrugged my shoulders.

"I'm sure however he does it, it will be amazing." I said as Blaze smiled softly.

"Ew, did you see what that girl was wearing? Talk about Loser Freshman." Sally said as she passed by us with her friends. Blaze and I rolled our eyes as Sally continued to talk shit on everybody. Even though Blaze is Shadow's friend, she hates Sally with a passion. Just like me. I'm pretty sure that's how we started talking.

"She's so annoying." I said as Blaze scoffed.

"At least one of your best friends isn't dating her." Blaze said.

"One of them does." I said. Blaze knows about the whole Sonic thing. Not the me liking him part. The him liking her and obsessing over her. Blaze rolled her eyes as we began walking around the gym.

"I think it's time that one of you give Sonic some glasses. I don't know what he sees in her." Blaze said as I laughed.

"What does Shadow even see in her?" I asked as Blaze became silent before looking at me.

"I do not know." Blaze said slowly as I shrugged my shoulders.

"Guys these days You're lucky you made it at with one of the good ones." I said as Blaze smiled softly. The day ended as I drove him. I walked in to see my mom already preparing dinner.

"Hey Mom," I said as I dropped my bag off by the door.

"Hey Honey, I making your favorite." My mom said as I smiled happily. My smile soon faded when I saw the picture of Darius. Darius was my older brother and he was the best brother I could have ever asked for. Friday would make it a year since he died. After Darius graduated from high school he enlisted into the army and after training he was immediately deployed. However, he didn't make it. I could remember the day like it was yesterday…

_**Flashback**_

_I was sitting in the living room with my laptop in front of me. It was Thursday night and Darius would usually Skype us around this time. He missed last time and I was about to chew him out for that. The doorbell rang and my dad looked towards the door in confusion. I could hear my mom answer the door before her sobbing. My heart dropped as my dad and I rushed to the door. We saw Darius' General with another solider holding a folded up flag. My dad pulled my mom into his arms as she continued to cry. _

"_I'm sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Rose, Darius was killed during combat." The General said as he handed me the flag and Darius' medals. I was numb. I didn't know what to do. I don't want to believe this. I wanted Darius to pop out from the bush and this to be a practical joke. I wanted it to be lie. I don't want this to be the truth. Tears started to fall down my cheeks as I fell to my knees. I clutched Darius' medal to my chest as I cried. How could this world be so unfair? _

_**End of Flashback**_

I could feel myself getting teary-eyed and I quickly walked away from the picture. It took a lot of time for my family and me to get over his death. I still hurts, but I know Darius is in a better place and he wouldn't want me to mope around for the rest of my life. My dad soon came home and we all ate dinner together. I told them about my project and they seemed interested in it.

"Yeah, it's actually pretty cool. Shadow is actually coming over tomorrow so we can work on it." I said as Dad raised his eyebrow.

"Are you sure this boy isn't trying to seduce you?" He asked as I choked on my pasta.

"What?! No! Dad! He has a girlfriend!" I exclaimed as my dad scoffed.

"That might not stop him!" My dad exclaimed as I rolled my eyes and sighed. Dinner finished soon after a lecture from my dad saying how guys will say anything to get you into bed. I went upstairs and finished my homework before getting ready for bed and going to sleep. The next day I walked to Shadow's locker to meet him before heading to my house.

"Hey," I said as Shadow closed his locker and smiled at me. "You ready to go?" I asked.

"Yeah, let's go." Shadow said as we walked out to the parking lot. I followed Shadow before he stopped in front of a motorcycle.

"Whoa, you ride a motorcycle?" I asked as Shadow nodded.

"You'll actually be the first person to ride on it with me." Shadow said as I looked at it hesitantly.

"Are you sure I'll be safe?" I asked.

"Positive. I won't let anything hurt you." Shadow said handing me the spare helmet. We stared at each other as a weird feeling settled in between us. I blinked before taking the helmet out of his hands. I got on behind Shadow and gripped the handle bars on the side of my seat. "You're going to want to hold onto me." Shadow said.

"I'm good." I said. Shadow has a girlfriend. I don't want to be all up on him.

"Suit yourself." Shadow said before bringing the motorcycle to life. I squeaked before leaping forward and wrapping my arms around him. I could hear Shadow laugh as I swatted him against the chest.

"Let's just go to my house." I said as he took off. Luckily my mom was working later than usual because she had parent-teacher conferences at the elementary school she taught at. I didn't want to put Shadow through that kind of third degree. We arrived at my house in one piece as Shadow smirked at me.

"Don't smirk at me like that. Motorcycles are scary." I said as Shadow rolled his eyes.

"I told you. I won't let anything hurt you." Shadow said as we walked into my house. We went up to my room as Shadow set up the camera on the tripod.

"So, what am I supposed to say?" I asked as I sat in my desk chair.

"Well, Mrs. Cherry posted a couple of questions we can answer. I'll leave this camera here so if you want to add anything to go along with the video or something you can record." Shadow said pulling out a piece of paper from his backpack.

"All right, let's get started." I said as I fixed my quills and moved to sit in my saucer chair. I crossed my legs and leaned back in my chair as Shadow hit record.

"All right, say your name, age, and college you plan to attend." Shadow said reading off the paper.

"My name is Amy Rose, I'm 18, and I'll be attending Northeastern University in the fall." I said as Shadow looked up at me before smiling and staring back down at the paper.

"What are you going to miss most about high school?" Shadow asked. I bit my lip and looked up as I tried to think.

"I have to say my friends. We're all attending different schools next year and I'm going to miss being in the same school with them. Also, high school is just…I don't know how to explain it. High school has a certain feeling to it, I guess. Everything is casual and you kind of know who everybody is. I guess I'll miss those things most about high school." I said as Shadow nodded.

"What has changed between your freshman year and your senior year?" Shadow asked. I knew the answer, but I was debating about talking about it. I decided why not? Darius' favorite phrase.

"Um, well, during the last year alone, I had to overcome one of the biggest tragedies of my life." I said looking straight into the camera and not at Shadow. If I looked at Shadow, I knew I would lose it. "My older brother, Darius, he died in the war a year ago. Darius was my biggest role model and having him not here anymore is really hard." I said as I began tearing up. "But, I eventually made it through and now I'm a stronger person because of it. I remember Darius everyday and when times get a little rough for me, I always think to myself what would Darius say right now and I'll always get my answer." I said dabbing my eyes quickly to get rid of the small tears.

"Wow, I didn't know Amy." Shadow said as I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm really sorry. Darius sounded awesome." He said as I laughed lightly.

"I'm sure if he heard that he'd like you immediately." I said as Shadow smiled softly. We continued down the list before finishing. Shadow turned the camera off as he grabbed his backpack.

"I think we got everything. Remember to film during the day." Shadow said as I nodded. "So, um, do you want come over so we can do the commentary thing?" Shadow asked.

"Will I have to ride to motorcycle again?" I asked.

"C'mon, I won't let anything hurt you, remember?" Shadow said as I laughed.

"All right…I guess." I said as Shadow smiled.

"Great, I'll see you tomorrow." Shadow said before hugging me. I felt an electric pulse go through me and looked at him in confusion. Shadow just smiled and left. That was weird…

"So, now it's lunch and we're going to meet my best friends!" I said as I spoke to my phone and walked through the cafeteria. I sat down at the table and aimed the camera at Cream. "This is Cream the Rabbit. I've known her since kindergarten and we still don't hate each other." I said as Cream smiled.

"Speak for yourself." Cream said as she stuck her tongue at me.

"Don't listen to her. She loves me." I said before turning to Rouge who smiled brightly. "This is Rouge. I've known her since freshman year. Don't mess with her." I said as Rouge rolled her eyes.

"I'm nice, don't listen to her." Rouge said as I laughed. I turned the camera to face Tails who smiled.

"This is Tails, I've known him since sophomore year. He's Cream's boyfriend and just about the smartest kid in the school." I said as Tails waved his hand dismissively.

"I'm not the smartest." Tails said.

"Ok, Mr. Yale." I said as Tails rolled his eyes.

"Lastly, this is Sonic. I've known Sonic since junior year and he—"I was interrupted when Sonic turned to talk to Tails.

"Can you believe this bullshit? He hasn't even asked her to Prom!" Sonic said as I sighed heavily and ended the video.

"Dude, let it go!" Tails exclaimed.

"No Tails! Believe me! She will be my Prom date!" Sonic said shaking his fist. I rolled my eyes and continued to eat my lunch. At the end of the day I walked to Shadow's locker where he was waiting. We rode the death machine to his house where he led me up to his room. His rood had white walls and black carpet. Most of his furniture was black and gray and his old guitars were hanging up on one side of the wall. There were some posters and he had his current guitars on stands by his bed.

"All right, I'll sit right here." Shadow said moving his desk chair in front of the wall with his old guitars. Shadow got the camera set up as I sat on his bed with the list of questions. I hit record before looking down at the paper.

"Name, age, and college." I said.

"My name is Shadow the Hedgehog, I'm 18, and I'm attending Northeastern University in the fall." Shadow said as I looked up at him in shock. "Yeah, was going to tell you, but I thought this would be much better." Shadow said with a smirk as I glared at him. Shadow chuckled as I just shook my head. I'm actually happy with his little news. I'll have one friend next year.

"What will you miss most about high school?" I asked.

"I'll probably miss my friends. Silver and Blaze have been my best friends since junior high. It kinda sucks that I won't be able to see them every day, but I guess that's all a part of going to college." Shadow said as I nodded.

"What has changed between your freshman year and senior year?" I asked.

"I guess, I found myself really. I really found out who I was through music. I always knew how to play guitar, but actually applying it to something was huge for me. I didn't let anyone see me play guitar, but when people actually started to cheer for me, I realized it wasn't so bad to show my talent. The only way I really express myself, is through music." Shadow explained as I smiled softly.

"If you can change on thing about your high school experience, what would you change?" I asked.

"I would have gone after the girl of dreams right from the beginning." Shadow said as I looked up at him confused. Shadow was staring at the camera with a serious face before looking over to me. A shiver ran done my spine involuntarily as he stared at me. I wonder who he was talking about. I didn't question him about it and continued on with the questions. I really got to know a lot more about Shadow. I mean, I've known him since sophomore year, but there were still things that I didn't know. It was nice. We finished and he began packing his acoustic guitar.

"Band rehearsal?" I asked.

"Yep, be happy though. I'm dropping you off in my mom's car." Shadow said as I pumped my fist. Shadow chuckled as we walked downstairs to his garage. I met his mom, who is the sweetest woman ever, before we got in the car and left his house.

"So…how are things with you and Sally?" I asked. A part of me hoped they were doing really well because I wanted Sonic to finally pay attention to me.

"We're good, I guess." Shadow said shrugging his shoulders.

"You guess?" I asked. Please tell me that's a good thing.

"Yeah…I don't know. This isn't a really serious relationship for me." Shadow said as I internally sighed. That's not the answer I wanted to hear.

Friday soon came and I was bumming hard. I didn't go to school because my parents and I were going to drive out to Darius' grave. I wore his old football sweatshirt even though it was twice the size of me. We walked to his grave as Mom began to cry. We said a pray before standing there in silence. My parents decided it was time to go, but I told them to go without me since Cream was picking me up. She wanted to pay her respects too. I sat down in front of his tombstone and stared at it.

"I wish you were here." I said as tears ran down my cheeks. "I'm graduating in a month. I always pictured you there screaming your head off. I guess I'll have to imagine you there." I said wiping my tears with his sweatshirt. "I really miss you." I said as I began sobbing. I sat there crying for what seemed like hours before I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see Cream who had tears in her eyes. Darius was as much a brother to her like he was to me. Cream sat next to me as I continued to cry. She held my hand as silent tears fell down her face. I eventually stopped crying as Cream hugged me. I stood up and put my hand on his tombstone. "I hope you're proud of me." I whispered.

"Miss you Darius." Cream said before we both walked arm-and-arm to her car. When we got to her house we decided to not mope and get excited for the Talent Show. Darius wouldn't want us to spend the day moping. I was going to film Shadow's performance to put in our documentary even though he didn't know. He'll put it in though, because I'll tell him to do it. Only Tails, Cream, and I were going since Rouge was going out of town with her family to find a Prom dress—she eventually said yes to Knuckles—and Sonic had to leave for a baseball tournament. I changed before Tails picked us up and we drove to the school. I sat in the fifth row and made sure no one taller than me was in front of me.

"Hey Amy!" Blaze said as her and Silver walked over to sit next to us.

"Hey Blaze!" I said hugging her. "Blaze, these are my friends Cream and Tails, guys this is Blaze and Silver." I said introducing them as they all greeted each other. "Are you excited to see Shadow perform?" I asked.

"Most definitely." Silver said with a smirk. I shrugged off his weird behavior when the show started. Dance crews, solo singers, and weird performers came on before the principal announced Shadow's band. Everybody went crazy as they all walked out. I saw Mina sit by a keyboard off to the side and looked at her confused. Shadow walked to the front microphone with his acoustic guitar as everybody began to whisper.

"What's up, guys? We're actually going to switch things up since I have a special song I want to sing." Shadow said into the microphone. "I dedicate this song to Darius Rose." Shadow said as I gasped. Silver took over my duty of recording since I was frozen in shock. Shadow and Espio began to play their guitars as Charmy started with a slow drum beat. Shadow leaned forward as he continued to play only now starting to sing.

_There's no one in town I know_

_You gave us some place to go_

_I never said thank you for that_

_I thought I might get one more chance_

_What would you think of me now, _

_So lucky, so strong, so proud?_

I began tearing up as Shadow closed his eyes and continued singing. You could hear the emotion in his voice—which was amazing by the way—and it only made me tear up more because it meant he actually cared. I couldn't help but start crying because the song was so perfect.

_I never said thank you for that,_

_Now I'll never get the chance_

_May angels lead you in_

_Hear you me my friends_

_On sleepless roads the sleepless go_

_May angels lead you in_

**Mina** began playing the piano and singing backup as I cried with my hands clutched over my heart. I can't believe he was doing this. I actually can't believe he was doing this. _**Shadow and Mina**_ sounded absolutely perfect together.

_So what would you think of me now,_

_**So lucky, so strong, so proud?**_

_I never said thank you for that_

_Now I'll never have a chance_

_**May angels lead you in**_

_**Hear you me my friends**_

_**On sleepless roads the sleepless go**_

_**May angels lead you in **_

**May angels lead you in**

_May angels lead you in_

**May angels lead you in**

_**May angels lead you in**_

They went to an instrumental part as I wiped my tears away. Shadow leaned forward to the microphone and scanned his eyes over the audience before they landed on me. He sang the next part directly at me with so much emotion making it the best performance I've seen in my life.

_And if you were with me tonight_

_I'd sing to you just one more time_

_A song for the heart so big,_

_God wouldn't let it live_

_**May angels lead you in**_

_**Hear you me my friends**_

_**On sleepless roads the sleepless go**_

_**May angels lead you in **_

_**May angels lead you in**_

_**Hear you me my friends**_

_**On sleepless roads the sleepless go**_

_**May angels lead you in**_

_**On sleepless roads the sleepless go**_

_May angels lead you in_

Everybody exploded with applause and cheer as I clapped and smiled my watery smile. The band took their bow before walking off stage. The principal closed the show as everybody began to leave. We walked out of the auditorium as I told Cream I'd see her later since she had to head home. Silver and Blaze also left as I waited for Shadow to come out. I eventually saw him walk out carrying his guitar in its case. I ran to him and jumped on him while wrapping my arms around his neck. I could feel his arms around my waist as I tried not to spill my tears on his shirt.

"Thank you." I whispered.

"Caught your attention, huh?" Shadow lightly joked. I pulled away as I wiped the tears from my eyes.

"Yeah, you really did." I said as Shadow smiled softly. I love his smile. Whoa, wait, what? I don't _love _his smile. He has a nice smile, sure, and a nice body…OH MY GOD! I have to stop! Shadow is just a friend. _An amazing friend. _Yeah…an amazing friend…

The weekend came and gone and I was back to school on Monday. Everything was the same. I went to class, Shadow and I would talk about anything, lunch consisted of Sonic blabbering about Sally, and I left halfway to do homework. I walked into locker room after the lunch bell rang and began to dress. I could overhear Sally and her friends talk as usual but this time it was about Shadow.

"So when are you going to, like, break up with that weird emo guy?" One of her friends asked. Shadow wasn't emo…

"After Prom. My parents still don't believe me, but once they see that I'm going with him to Prom they'll flip and have to send me to Hollywood. I'll finally start my modeling career and not waste my time at that stupid college their trying to get me to go to." Sally said as I gasped silently. She's…she's just using Shadow! That bitch! How dare she use such a nice guy! Well…he did say it wasn't much of a serious relationship. That's beside the point! She's just using him and he needs to know. I knew I hated the bitch for a reason. Wait, why am I getting so upset by this? I mean, it's just Shadow. _Maybe he's not 'Just Shadow' anymore…_I rolled my eyes at my own thoughts and left the locker room. I went home and did the usual dinner with my parents and homework. I fell asleep quickly, but my dream took a turn for the weird.

_I was sitting on a swing. I remember this swing. It was the swing Darius would always push me on when we were little. I looked right next to me to see an empty swing. Usually when he was done pushing me he would join me and we would swing together. I sighed and looked down at my hands. Another Darius dream…this wasn't out of the usual._

"_You didn't tell you needed glasses." I heard suddenly and looked up to see Darius on the swing next to me. I looked at him confused as he just smiled at me. _

"_What…?" I asked slowly. _

"_You couldn't tell your big bro that you were going blind? I mean, I know I'm dead, but c'mon, I'm not chopped liver." Darius said as I just stared at him. _

"_What are you?" I asked. _

"_Amy, it's me. I've been watching over you." Darius said as I gasped. "You didn't think I was completely gone, did you? You can't get rid of me that easy." Darius said._

"_What do you mean I'm going blind?" I asked snapping out of my shock. Does he see into the future or something? _

"_Why are you still hung up on Sonic?" Darius asked as I just stared at him. "C'mon Amy, he's a lost cause. He doesn't deserve you." Darius said as I rolled my eyes. _

"_Oh yeah, then who?" I asked. _

"_Shadow." Darius said simply. _

"_What?" I exclaimed. "Why Shadow?" I asked. _

"_C'mon Amy, you cannot be that stupid. That kid and you are meant to be." Darius said as I just stared at him. _

"_No we're not. We're just friends." I said._

"_Say what you want, little sister, but like mom says, 'If you spend your time focused on one goal, you'll miss the true answer that's right in front of you.'" Darius said as I stared down at my hands. _

"_Do…do you really watch over me?" I asked looking over to him. Darius smiled softly as he put his hand over mine. _

"_Yeah, I really do." Darius said as I smiled sadly. "I miss you too." Darius said as tears began to make their way down my cheeks. "And yes Amy, I'm proud of you." Darius said as I stood up and hugged him tightly. I don't care that this is a dream. If I get a chance to hug my brother one more time, I'm not missing the opportunity. _

I woke up the next with dried tears on my face and the dream forever engraved into my mind. I drove to school and made the decision to tell Shadow. I walked into English to see him sitting there and marched over to him.

"Sally is using you." I said as Shadow looked at me.

"What?" Shadow asked.

"Sally is just using you to make her parents upset that she's dating a 'bad-guy' or whatever in hopes that they'll send her to Hollywood or some shit like that." I said as Shadow stared at me.

"I see." Shadow said as he nodded and continued to text on his phone.

"Aren't you upset…?" I asked.

"Like I said earlier Amy, this isn't serious relationship for me." Shadow said as I just stared at him. Does it really not mean that much to him? "By the way, you need to send me your footage tomorrow." Shadow said as I nodded numbly. Does it really not bug him that much?

"How come you're not upset?" I asked after a while.

"Because Amy, Sally doesn't mean anything to me. My friends hate her, hell, even I hate her. I don't care about Sally. This is the perfect excuse to finally break up with her." Shadow explained.

"If you hate her…why are you dating her?" I asked. Shadow rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Silver put the stupid thought into my head that dating her would make the girl I really like jealous. However, it didn't work and I was just stuck with her." Shadow said.

"Who's the girl you like?" I asked. Shadow has now mentioned her twice in front of me. I need to know who she is.

"You'll eventually know." Shadow said with a smirk as I narrowed my eyes. We didn't talk about it the rest of English and soon I was off to Math, but I was quickly stopped by Sonic.

"Listen Amy, I don't think this whole Sally thing is going to work out by Prom, so do you want to go together?" Sonic asked as I stared up at him. This has been the moment I've been waiting for. Sonic finally asking me to Prom! But…I can't help but feel disappointed. Not at the fact that he's only asking me because he can't go with Sally, but…at the fact that I have no desire to go with him. I think…I think I'm finally over Sonic. Maybe that crazy dream with Darius did make me realize something.

"I think you still have a shot. Besides, I don't really want to go." I said patting his shoulder before walking around him. That felt so liberating! I just rejected Sonic's offer! This day is amazing! The week continued with Shadow breaking up with Sally, Sally freaking out, Sonic getting his date with Sally and effectively leaving our group (really? Douche bag), Shadow and his friends joining our table, and Knuckles for some reason (Rouge). Friday soon came and I was excited to see mine and Shadow's project completely done. Shadow handed Mrs. Cherry the flash drive and she soon pressed on the file to begin our little movie. It began with both of our commentaries side by side. We did our introductions at the same time with 18 and Northeastern matching up perfectly.

"Nice touch." I whispered to Shadow who nodded. He seemed more tense than usual. Did he really care that much about our project? It moved onto my commentary about friends and showed the footage of me introducing my friends. I noticed the part with Sonic yelling at Tails was cut out for obvious reasons. It cut to Shadow speaking about how music was his only way of expressing himself before cutting to Shadow with the band. It moved to him at rehearsal as he filmed everybody.

"Give me that!" Mina exclaimed taking the camera out of Shadow's hand. "So, Mr. Shadow, please tell us why we're changing the song?" Mina asked as Shadow glared at her through the camera. Mina soon flipped it to her as she ignored Shadow's glaring. "You see, we were originally going to perform this kick-ass song called _Looking Up_, but Shadow here wants to sing _Hear You Me_. I don't have a problem with it because…" Mina said as she flipped the camera back on Shadow.

"Just give me the camera!" Shadow exclaimed as the footage cut to Shadow's performance at the Talent Show. Shadow slinked out of the room as I watched him leave in confusion. I ignored it before continuing to watch Shadow's performance. The camera soon turned to me who was crying and I cursed Silver in my head for filming that. Everybody in the class awed as I blushed brightly. Soon it cut to my commentary about Darius and I could hear sniffles around the room. Aw, how sweet. At least there are nice people in my class. It cut back to Shadow's performance where it showed the end of the song.

"Shadow's performance," I said as I watched myself on camera speak. This was the commentary I did on my own about Shadow's performance. "It was absolutely perfect. From his singing right down to the song. Everything about it was amazing. I have never had someone do something so nice for me ever. This was hands down the best moment of my high school career. I've never had such a great moment happen to me until then." I said as I smiled softly. It suddenly cut to Shadow sitting in his room.

"If you can change on thing about your high school experience, what would you change?" I heard my voice say off camera.

"I would have gone after the girl of my dreams right from the beginning." Shadow said. The scene of him faded to black before I heard the sound of guitar. I thought it was coming from the video, but soon realized it was happening outside of the video. The door soon opened to reveal Shadow playing his guitar and Mrs. Cherry flipped the light on. Everybody was quickly mesmerized by Shadow as I just stared at him.

_Bucket full of tears  
Baby know I'm here  
I'm here waiting_

_Just close your precious eyes  
And just realize  
I'm still fighting_

_For you to be with me  
Sit under this tree  
And we can watch the sunrise_

I noticed Shadow was singing directly at me and I slowly started piece everything together. Shadow continued to sing though as he began to slowly walk over to me.

_Wake up feel the air that I'm breathin'  
I can't explain this feeling that I'm feelin'  
I won't go another day without you  
Hold on I promise its gets brighter  
When it rains I'll hold you even tighter  
I won't go another day without you (without you)_

_I know you're feeling down  
Like no one's around  
But baby your wrong_

_Just get rid of the fear  
Promise that I'm here  
_

_I'll never be gone_

_So baby come with me  
We can fly away and we can see the  
Stars shine_

_And baby you can be my love_

I began to smile and I covered my mouth in pure shock of this whole situation. I could see now that Darius was right. The answer to my question was right in front of me the whole time. Shadow walked down the aisle towards me as he continued to sing.

_Wake up feel the air that I'm breathin'__  
__I can't explain this feeling that I'm feelin'__  
__I won't go another day without you__  
__Hold on I promise its gets brighter__  
__When it rains I'll hold you even tighter__  
__I won't go another day without you (without you)_

Once Shadow came to me he kneeled on the ground and sang directly at me. As he sang the next part with more emotion and a little slower than the rest of the song.

_This is me tonight__  
__No more games and no more lies__  
__And I know it's right__  
__Cause of the way you look into my eyes__  
__And when I hold you tight__  
__The worries disappear I'm glad you're in my life_

Shadow finished the song amazingly as I still stared down at him with my mouth covered by my hand and smiling like an idiot.

_Wake up feel the air that I'm breathing__  
__I can't explain this feeling that I'm feeling__  
__I won't go another day without you__  
__Hold on I promise its gets brighter__  
__When it rains I'll hold you even tighter__  
__I won't go another day without you (without you)_

Shadow stared up at me, along with the rest of the class, wondering what I was thinking. I was the girl Shadow was talking about the whole time. He's been in love with me this entire time and I was so stupid not to have realize it before hand. These past weeks have shown me just how wonderful Shadow is and how much he really does care for. I can't help but to love him back. I let my hand drop from my face and put my hands around his face. I leaned down and kissed him with all the emotion I could muster as I heard the classroom erupt with applause. I soon pulled away as Shadow smiled brightly up at me.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" I asked.

"I never had your attention till now." Shadow said as I smiled softly.

"Well now you have it." I said as Shadow grabbed my hand.

"And I don't plan on letting it go." Shadow said.

* * *

_(A/N): Collective aw on 1, 2, 3: AWWWWWW! Thanks for reading! The songs if you want to know are _Hear You Me _by Jimmy Eat World and _Without You _by AJ Rafael. _


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